Now that the new school year is fast approaching, it's important that teachers get to know their new students, students get to know their teacher and ...
Now that the new school year is fast approaching,
it's important that teachers get to know their new students, students get to know their teacher and students get to know each other.
During my 30 plus years of teaching I have used several classroom activities as a fun and non-stressful way to get the school year started on the right foot. Here are 5 of my favourite.
1. Name The Student
On the first day of school my students and I played this game. I divided students into small groups of 4-6 and since my classroom seating arrangements already had my students separated into small groups, this was easy.
The first student in the first group said his name. The next student then said his name and repeated the first student's name. The third student gave his name and repeated the first two. This continued until all the students in the group had said their names.
Then on to the 2nd group. Students not only said their names and the names of the students in their group but the previous group(s) students' names as well. Finally when all the groups were finished I took my turn. I was pretty good at it (from all my years of experience) and my students were impressed (that's not the point). It was a great fun way to start the new school year.
2. My Favourite
This is one more fun activity that your students will enjoy and it only requires a ball, like a soccer ball. Get your students to sit in a large circle, you included.
You begin the game by deciding on a topic, say movies for example. Tell everyone what your favourite movie is. Roll the ball to anyone in the circle. The person receiving the ball must now tell everyone his/her favourite movie. The student then rolls the ball to someone who hasn't had a turn and so on.
Once everyone has had a chance to tell their favourite movie, the last person can now select a different topic and the game continues. The choice of topics is almost limitless, such as TV programs, singers, food, etc.
3. Have You Ever
This activity is very useful to help students and you learn about each others interests, accomplishments, things of that nature.
First, you as the teacher needs to create in advance, a list of say approximately 30 activities that your students may have done in the past. For example, worked on a project, created something, traveled somewhere, had a pet, played on a championship team, etc.
On a full sheet of paper write out the list leaving place for 3 names beside each of the 30 activities. Give each student a copy of the list.
Their goal is to go around the classroom and try and find 3 students that have done each of the listed activities. After a certain amount of time (at your discretion), gather the class together and discuss the results of their mission. I'm sure you'll find out lots of interesting facts about one another.
4. Three Amazing Comments
Wait to play this game for several months until students get to know more about each other. Once i explain the game you'll understand why.
The game starts by having everyone sit in a large circle. On a sheet paper each student writes their name at the top of the sheet so that is very visible. Each student will then pass their sheet to the person beside them (you can go in a circular fashion to the left or right).
Once a student receives the sheet of paper from his neighbour, the objective is to write down three positive things about the student named on the sheet. On a signal from the teacher the sheet is passed around the circle until each student has commented about every other student.
Only positive comments are allowed, such as, good in sports, good in english, math, etc., friendly, helpful and so on. Ask students to make up their own comments and not look at other comments on the sheet. Of course there will be some duplicates.
This game is a great self esteem builder. With each student getting their sheet back and seeing many good things said about them by their fellow students, who wouldn't feel better about themselves.
5. Special Talk and Student of the Week
Each Friday as the last period of the week, I would have my students sit in a large circle, me included and we would discuss the events of the week, what we were all doing that weekend and well as other things happening in the school.
I would also give out a classroom reward (a small prize or treat) to the "student of the week". This student was selected by the previous student of the week ( I selected the first one) for something positive he/she had done, such as helping another student, being considerate of friendly to others, etc. One rule was that the same student couldn't be selected again until all students in the class had been selected a least once.
Use these classroom team building activities and not only will you and your students get to know each other, but they are also a great way to build student motivation, self esteem, and student camaraderie.
